A short while ago my friend Frank Strong mentioned that he was interested in learning more about the Genesis Framework.
I think the conversation took place on Google Plus. you know that social media platform that some people incorrectly describe as a ghost town (have you circled me yet) and I promised to write about my experience.
So per my promise here is a quick review of The Genesis Framework.
What Is The Genesis Framework?
The Genesis Framework is built by Studiopress and as described on the link above it is a platform you can use to build websites with WordPress. It is the framework that I use for this blog and the one that I am currently most fond of.
Current meaning that I like it better than Headway Themes, Thesis and the various free WordPress blog themes that I have used. The reason I like it best is because I am a lay person and I have limited experience and expertise with hard coding.
I have been working with it for about two years or so now and as I mentioned thus far I prefer it to my experiences with Headway Themes, Thesis and the various free WP themes I have used.
That is because up to this point in time I have found it easier to use, have had better support and have been found lots of useful information about it.
Noteworthy Points of Interest
I am relatively tech savvy and not afraid to tinker with my blogs. I have blown them up more than once by tinkering and can guarantee I will do so again.
But I believe in learning by doing and can assure you I am much better at this now than I was several years ago so it could be that I would have e a different feeling about the other themes/frameworks I mentioned. I don’t think of any of them as being difficult to work with, I just think of Genesis as being easier.
I also have found the support to be more responsive and I am a fan of their child themes. If you are not familiar with the term think of a child theme as being “clothing” you can apply to your blog/website giving it a different look and feel.
Some people don’t believe in paying for a theme but I don’t mind making a small investment because the difference between a premium and free theme can be significant and the return I have received has always covered any investment I made.
What Is the Relevance Of The Beach Shot?
Genesis is so easy to work with I can make adjustments from anywhere, including the beach. Did I mention there are no affiliate links in this in unofficial review?
I should probably change that and try to make a few bucks when and where I can.
Truth is that you can always find support online for WordPress sites. I can’t guarantee that you will always find it, but I am willing to guarantee that you will find an enormous amount of material surrounding it. There are lots of blog posts and more than a few YouTube videos that walk you through how to do all sorts of different things.
Sometimes the biggest challenge is finding a video that explains things in a way that is easily understood. But if you are willing to put the time in you can usually get your answers and if you have a couple of bucks, you can always pay someone to fix it for you.
Content and Traffic
But to me the bigger question is can you fill it with useful, insightful and interesting content and do you know how to generate traffic. This is not Field of Dreams.
If you write it they may not come unless of course you have found ways to make sure they come visit.
That is a different post, so let’s open this up to questions and comments. You just read a general overview, what specific questions do you have?
Frank_Strong I am definitely not a developer so I haven’t any real authority to share about the code. What I do know is Studiopress has always been very responsive to any questions I have had.
It is a modest investment to buy the framework and a couple bucks more if you choose to purchase a child theme. But I have found it easy to use and manipulate and most of the kinks that show up here are because I have been tinkering.
The biggest challenges for me have always come when I have decided to make a change in themes, particularly with picture sizes.
Right now it is set up here so that the pictures are large, but if I adjust my theme so that there isn’t as much real estate available I’ll find that many of my photos don’t fit on the page properly. It will probably mean devoting some time to clean things up so they fit as they should with whatever design I go with.
Soulati | Hybrid PR why yes you do.
How cool is that? A review just like that! I’ve been thinking about it. Used a developer the last go round but I don’t like being dependent on someone else. And other developers have told me the code is sloppy. Before I make a change though, I think I need to be sure I’ve got some time set aside for the snafus that will surely ensue!
Oh, cool…I get to choose which commenting system I want to use?